12-12-12 times good luck

Whether exchanging vows (at 12 p.m., of course) or blowing out 12 candles, they had numbers on their side

By Jack Minch, jminch@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
12/13/2012 07:00:36 AM EST

LEOMINSTER -- The fates helped conspire to lead Mathias Dos Santos and his bride, Leanne Winter Dos Santos, to City Clerk Lynn Bouchard's office Wednesday -- on 12-12-12, the last repeating date until the next century.

The 19-year-olds decided to get married on 12-12-12 at 12 p.m. when they couldn't get married earlier.

"We were nervous this morning, but excited now that it's over," Winter said Wednesday.

According to Vicki MacKinnon, who practices numerology, the study of the occult significance of numbers, Wednesday's date represents two energies merging, including masculine and feminine energies.

MacKinnon, of Calgary, Alberta, author of "Please Take a Number: Numerology for Real Life and Everyday Success," said Tuesday that those kinds of energy are good news for couples planning to marry on 12-12-12.

The lucky day was destined to arrive for Gabriella Prochnow of Hubbardston, since she was born Dec. 12, 2000. She turned 12 on 12-12-12.

She realized the unique date was coming up about two years ago, and the excitement has been building since then.

"I've been planning my birthday since then, thinking it would be the perfect birthday," she said.

She went to school at Hubbardston Center Elementary School as normal on Wednesday, but the date added special meaning for her.

"I think it is very unique. The next one will only be in 100 years," Gabriella said.

She planned to go out to dinner Wednesday with her mother, Lisa Donahue of Milford, and will have a sleep-over party on Friday.

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Andrew Prochnow was excited to see his daughter's birthday fall on such a unique date.

"It's going to be the only time I see this in my lifetime," he said. "I don't think I'll end up being 126."

Dos Santos originally suggested a Dec. 6 wedding, but Bouchard was on vacation so they hit on the idea of Dec. 12.

"I wanted to marry her. I love her," Dos Santos said.

Dos Santos and Winter met about two years ago at a St. Bernard Church carnival and friended each other on Facebook, but didn't start dating until they reunited at a Worcester nightclub about a year ago.

Then about a month ago the Leominster High graduate scared her with a telephone call asking her to visit him at his Athol home so they could talk.

He sounded serious, and Winter was worried, so she got her mother, Theresa Martinez, to drive her over.

Instead of trouble, she found a chocolate cupcake that had an engagement ring stuck in the frosting with a note asking her to marry him.

"I said, 'I love it,' " Winter recalled.

They hugged, and she thanked him.

Then Winter went outside to her mother waiting in the car.

"I started crying," Martinez said. "She brought the cupcake out to me, and I saw it."

Joan Carlson, grandmother of the bride, said she is counting on 12-12-12 bringing the newlyweds bliss.

"I am so excited," Carlson said Wednesday. "I love her very much, and I just hope she's happy. And Mathias is so sweet, we're glad to have him in our family."

Carlson had to fight her emotions again Wednesday while videotaping the ceremony in City Hall's Tata Auditorium.

"I was just hoping my hands weren't shaking," she said.

Dos Santos, 19, graduated from high school last spring and is waiting to start school at Mount Wachusett Community College next fall. He plans to be an architect.

Winter, of Westminster, graduated Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School's cosmetology school in 2011 and is working as a door coordinator at the Texas Roadhouse in Leominster.

The couple plan to live with Winter's father, Paul Winter, in Westminster.

Theirs was the only wedding in Leominster Wednesday.

With Wednesday's once-a-century date, some people across the United States were betting on good fortune for 12-12-12.

Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut offered $12 in free slots play to reward card members who sank $12 into the slots.

Christopher Gingras of Fitchburg and Marina Doktor filed an intention of marriage with Fitchburg City Clerk Anna Farrell's office, but they could not be reached for comment Wednesday.